Input | Output |
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Link | Youtube |
Published | 2023/04/08 |
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Status | article incomplete |
Beau says:
China's plans to inspect shipping in the Strait of Taiwan raise tensions with the U.S., testing American willingness to confront China over Taiwan.
Foreign policy analysts, policymakers
Deeper analysis on the potential geopolitical implications and strategies for de-escalation.
#China #Taiwan #US #Geopolitics #Tensions #ForeignPolicy
Well, howdy there, internet people, it's Beau again.
So today we are going to talk about China and Taiwan
and shipping and the Strait of Taiwan
and what may be the first real situation
that's really going to raise tensions
between China and the United States.
So the Chinese government has said
that they're going to start inspecting shipping
the Strait of Taiwan. Taiwan is like, no you're not, and they've instructed ships
to basically call if they encounter a patrol. Now, the United States historically
has sided with Taiwan for the most part. It's lukewarm, but it's there.
Now, this situation when you have naval vessels encountering each other, when you're talking
about inspecting a ship, you're talking about having that thing pull up and boarding it,
that's a situation where things can go wrong.
That's a situation where events can spiral out of control very, very quickly.
United States has to decide how they're going to respond and they have to do it
early. This isn't something that can wait until things start to spiral. At this
point it looks like the government is just saying well it's an escalation by
the Chinese, it's intimidation, so on and so forth. Yeah that's fine and good for
the cameras but they have to come up with a plan. Now the question that the
American people have to ask is whether or not they're actually willing to risk a
real confrontation with China over this. Whether or not that's a box they want to
open because if they do they could get chained into something.
This is going to be a real test for the Biden administration and for
For those in Congress who have injected themselves into foreign policy, everybody has to be very
careful and they have to acknowledge the situation on the ground and make a determination as
to whether or not the United States is actually willing to back up its rhetoric.
the US has had a lot of rhetoric about defending Taiwan no matter what.
And the American people, they may not be down to do that simply because of tradition, which
is how these statements have continued over the years.
And it's an incredibly tricky situation for the Biden administration, for U.S. diplomacy
in general, because while from a purely national interest point of view, the U.S. doesn't really
gain a whole lot by going toe-to-toe with China over Taiwan.
The downside to this, the alternate viewpoint, is that if the United States backs down, then
other allies in the region may lose faith in the United States.
This is where that international poker game where everybody's cheating gets super complicated
because there are a lot of cards being slid.
I would hope that this becomes a minor thing.
I would hope that the end result is that the Chinese government inspects a few ships and
that's the end of it.
But this is the first instance where there's something that really can spiral out of control.
A Taiwanese ship being sunk would likely be interpreted as an act of aggression, so there's
a lot at play on this one.
This is something that people have to watch, and this is something that those in Congress,
unless they actually understand foreign policy, they need to be quiet because small statements
right now really matter, to the point of, you know, the US as an example of how sensitive
this issue is, the US doesn't ever say the Taiwanese government, the people of Taiwan,
because that's more palatable to China.
This is delicate, and I am concerned that with the amount of anti-Chinese propaganda
that is coming out in the United States, that you're going to have some newly-minted representative
or senator who really doesn't know what they're talking about get on Fox and say something
that could escalate the situation way beyond what it needs to be.
Anyway, it's just a thought, y'all have a good day.
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